Late Arrival?

Many authors and researchers have proposed that our Moon arrived in the skies above Earth much more recently than the conventional estimate (that it formed 4.5 billion years ago or thereabouts). Some have suggested that the wandering Moon was captured intact by Earth around 12,000 years ago, while one author has suggested as early as 1200 BC. So when did our lunar companion arrive on the scene?

Firstly, it is important to establish that, while mainstream science has its own theories about the formation of the Moon, these are far from convincing. The prevailing hypothesis is that the Moon formed following the collision of a Mars-sized object with Earth (the so-called “big whack” theory). However, problems with this theory have led to a more convoluted version (the “double whack” theory).

An alternative explanation for the Moon and its various characteristics is the Spaceship Moon theory, which was pioneered in the 1970s by Russian scientists Mikhail Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov and American author Don Wilson. They raised the possibility that the Moon is akin to a giant, artificial spaceship or vessel, with the inference being that some advanced race deliberately placed it in Earth orbit.

More recently, Christopher Knight and Alan Butler (authors of Who Built the Moon) and Jim Marrs (author of Alien Agenda) have written on this subject. Marrs concludes that: “the spaceship moon theory may come closer than any other in reconciling the questions over the origin and amazing orbit of our Moon.”

So the mainstream theory of our Moon’s very ancient formation is cast into doubt, and an alternative theory that it arrived intact, and may be an artificial structure, is gaining strength. This suggests that we should also review our understanding of when the Earth-Moon relationship began.

An obvious starting point is ancient history and mythology, where there are multiple references to a time before our Moon existed. If there was a time ‘before the Moon,’ and if it has been retained in the tribal memory of indigenous peoples, it was probably not all that long ago.

To take an example from South America, the Chibchas tribe of Columbia have a creation myth that says that one day a tall, white-skinned, bearded man called Bochica taught them agriculture and the arts of civilization. In response to this, the man’s evil-hearted wife, Chia, flew into a rage and caused the whole Earth to be flooded. Bochica banished Chia from the Earth and made her into the Moon. Most pertinently, the Chibchas “definitely state that they remember a time before the present Moon became the companion of our Earth.”

H.S. Bellamy, the early twentieth century author who relayed the Chibchas story, also offered other evidence in support of a ‘pre-lunar’ age: “No less an author than Aristotle tells us … that the barbarous Pelasgian aborigines who inhabited Arcadia before the coming of the Hellenes, quoted, as their chief title to this land, that fact that they were already living in it before there was a Moon in the heavens. Hence the Greeks called them Proselenians [after the Greek moon god Sellene].” Bellamy continued: “In the works of [epic poet and scholar] Apolloniuss Rhodius we find a reference to the time ‘when not all the orbs were yet in the heavens, when there were yet neither Danai nor Deukalion’s race, when only the Arcadians lived of whom it is said they dwelt in the hills before the Moon appeared, feeding on Acorns.”

Scientist and author Immanuel Velikovsky picked up on this theme and concluded that the existence of an era before the Moon “is probably the most remote recollection of mankind.” Velikovsky cited Greek philosophers Democritus and Anaxagoras, who taught that there was a time when Earth was without a Moon. He then added Plutarch, Ovid, Hippolytus, Lucian, and Censorinus to the list of ancient writers who referred to ‘pre-lunar’ people.

There are also other historic sources, such as Giordano Bruno’s cosmological treatise De Immenso and the Finnish epic poem Kalevala, that contain evidence of a time ‘before the Moon.’ Some sources even suggest that a moon or moons may have existed before the current one. But when did the current one get here?

There are various archaeological finds that have been related to the Moon and that may therefore help to date its the arrival. Firstly, there are the carved-bone ‘tally sticks’ that some believe to represent the phases of the Moon. These date from around thirty thousand years ago, although even the archaeologist who discovered them was not completely sure of the lunar calendar theory.

Then there is the ‘Venus of Laussel’ carving that dates from 18,000 BC or earlier. The Venus figure is shown holding what appears to be a bison horn, which has 13 notches along it. This could represent the (crescent) Moon and its phases, although there is another theory that it just depicts a drinking vessel.

Do these archaeological finds depict our current Moon, a former moon, or no moon at all? Given the apparent lack of any clear images of the Moon that are tens of thousands of years old, it is appropriate to proceed forward in time and look at other evidence.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, several authors have proposed a Moon arrival date of around twelve thousand years ago. Austrian scientist and occultist Hans Hoerbiger envisaged Earth routinely capturing wandering moons that eventually spiraled inwards to crash into Earth. Hoerbiger considered that the current Moon arrived around twelve thousand years ago.

This dating was supported by French author Denis Saurat, whose own idea was that the crash landing of a previous moon ended an epoch of giants on Earth. H.S. Bellamy opted for a similar Moon capture period of eleven thousand five hundred to thirteen thousand years ago, as did modern author Henry Kroll, who suggests that Anunnaki aliens—of Zecharia Sitchin fame—were responsible for bringing the Moon to the Earth.

Kroll believes that they did this by colliding the incoming Moon with Earth, which tilted Earth’s axis to its current 23.5 degrees. He says that prior to approximately twelve thousand five hundred years ago, it is thought that Earth had a much more elliptical orbit around the Sun, the inference being that the newly arrived Moon helped to stabilize the orbit of its new host planet.

Kroll also reports that the oldest images of the Moon that he and his co-author found were from China and dated from 6500 BC. This presumably relates to the inscriptions found at Damaidi in Ningxia. These are dated to significantly earlier than the time when most scholars consider that Chinese script emerged (which is more like 2500 BC).

Continuing forward in time, in the fifth millennium BC there are images of a full circle, with two crescent moon shapes either side, painted onto a bowl found in Romania. These could well represent our current Moon and its phases, or it could potentially show a central Earth with two entirely different moons either side. Legends of certain African Bushmen tell of a time when Earth once had two moons.

Nonetheless, as we move from the fifth millennium BC to the fourth millennium BC, we have probably reached a point that most people would consider is too recent for the arrival of our Moon. In many ways, assuming that our Moon arrived by way of some sort of cataclysmic collision scenario, that’s understandable. But what if the Moon was actually some sort of spaceship brought here by an advanced civilization—could a more recent arrival be possible?

As it happens, the close of the fourth millennium BC and the end of the Neolithic Age was a truly unprecedented time period. Academic Dr. Bruce Scofield states that whatever happened around 3100 BC (+1 – 100 years) was of major consequence: “It’s possible that this period marks the most important and decisive time in the entire history of civilization.” Scofield describes how in Mesopotamia “all the traits of high civilization appeared there almost simultaneously; the wheel, metallurgy, astrology, astronomy, calendars, taxation, bookkeeping, and an organized priesthood.”

Ancient Egypt is also said to have been founded around 3100 BC, with the mythical founder king Menes uniting Upper and Lower Egypt and initiating the First Dynasty. Interestingly, Menes is almost completely absent from the archaeological record in Egypt. Menes was however known as a Thinite, with Thinis being a mythical place in heaven. Menes was also referred to as the “overseer of Upper Egypt”—and Upper Egypt used to be called Khemennu, ‘Land of the Moon.’

From this we can conclude that, if nothing else, Menes and the Moon seem to be somehow associated. In addition, the name ‘Menes’ can be compared to that of certain lunar deities, such as ‘Men’ of the Heavens (the Anatolian moon god) and ‘Meness’ (the Latvian moon god). There are also several culture-bearers or flood heroes of a similar name, such as Manu (India) and Mannus (Germany).

Furthermore, Menes has been equated to the Cretan founder king, Minos. The word ‘Minos’ is probably really a title, one that has been translated by Robert Graves as literally meaning ‘moon-being’ or ‘moon-creature’! More than one mythical founder king can therefore be linked to the Moon. But what other evidence is there of a moon–related event at the close of the fourth millennium BC?

There is actually a range of notable geological and biological evidence relating to this period. Data from Greenland ice cores shows a huge spike in sulfate concentration around 3200 BC, and a large acid peak at around 3150 BC—both of which could indicate volcanic activity. Tree ring data from Ireland and Germany suggests a major climatic event took place, possibly involving the cooling of the North Atlantic. There is also evidence of flooding in lower latitudes (Nile, Arizona, Morocco, Israel and Mesopotamia). Could this varied physical evidence—often linked to the impact of cometary debris—actually represent the arrival of our Moon?

As well as flooding and seawater inundations, there is evidence of the emergence of new land in certain parts of the world. Paul Dunbavin, author of The Atlantis Researches, plotted the locations of inundations and emergences on a world map and concluded that the evidence pointed towards the tilting of the Earth’s axis around 3100 BC.

In addition, Dunbavin noted that polar latitudes tended to experience the emergence of land. This is the very phenomenon that was cited by H.S. Bellamy as evidence—in theory at least—of Earth gaining a new satellite (seawater flowing from the poles to the tropics and staying there).

The significance of the period around 3100 BC appears to be supported by the dating of megalithic stone structures, many of which are estimated to have been built around 3100 BC or not long after. One example is the aptly-named ‘Temple of the Moon’ at the Stones of Stenness in the Orkney Isles (UK), which has been dated to 3100–2700 BC.

Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe, writing about the Orkneys, concludes: “It is reasonable … to argue that the main elements of this focal religious landscape were being created within a comparatively short period soon after 3000 BC.”

The megalithic henges of Britain are also thought to have been commenced not long after 3100 BC. The most famous, Stonehenge, was considered by megalith researcher Alexander Thorn to be a giant lunar observatory. Stone circle building commenced around this time as well, with the Callanish stone circle in the Scottish Outer Hebrides probably being the best known for its lunar associations. Callanish dates to around 3000 BC.

Coincidentally or otherwise, the era of around 3000 BC is also the date that author Safiya Karimah puts for the commencement of moon goddess worship in the ancient world. Were ancient peoples worshipping a new addition to the skies above them?

Rather than the arrival of the Moon, this era has actually been associated with the planet Venus. The Mayan Long Count calendar—which ends on December 21, 2012—is said to go back to August 13, 3113 BC. The Maya recorded a ‘super-number’ of 1,366,560 days, which they referred to as the ‘birth of Venus.’ Author Maurice Cotterell states that no orthodox researcher understands why the Mayan calendar should have started when it did or why they chose to revere the birth of Venus number.

One explanation could be that 3113 BC marked the literal ‘birth’ of what we know today as planet Venus. However, an ancient Hindu table of planets attributed to the year 3102 BC (the supposed start of the Hindu age of Kali Yuga) shows all the visible planets except Venus. Furthermore, Immanuel Velikovsky concluded that Venus first appeared in our solar system around 1500 BC.

This raises the question of whether the 3113 BC date relates to a period of significance for our Moon rather than the planet Venus. Interestingly, Mayan expert Dr. Jose Arguelles has stated that 3113 BC is “as precise and accurate as one can get for a beginning of history.” He says that it was the point when time was divided into 24 hours of 60 minutes of 60 seconds, and the circle was divided into 360 degrees. This emphasizes the significance for humanity and planet Earth of this time period—did the arriving Moon initiate all these changes?

There is, however, an even more recent date to consider for the arrival of the Moon. Author Gary Gilligan wrote an article in 2003 that was posted on Graham Hancock’s website, which proposed that the Moon arrived around 2000 BC. Since then, Gilligan has revised his estimate to 1200 BC. He states:

“How Earth gained such a large moon is still one of the great unsolved mysteries of our time. I propose past planetary chaos involving Earth, Mars and Venus resulted in the capture of the moon in orbit around the Earth circa 1200 BC. This chaotic ‘capture’ of the moon paralleling a ‘Dark Age’ as proposed by archaeologists” (source: www.gks.uk.com/moon-origin-egvptian/)

Although Gilligan promises more evidence to come, his theory has to contend with the varied evidence of an earlier Moon, including the earliest known written myth of the Moon’s death and rebirth, the epic poem Descent of Inanna (dating from 1750 BC), and also the oldest known map of the moon (dating from 2800 BC).

The ‘moon map’ was found by academic Dr. Philip Stooke at the Irish megalithic site of Knowth, which is said to be one of the earliest and most important lunar observatories.

Whether or not the Knowth image actually represents the Moon (and not everyone is convinced), it can be concluded that there is a range of evidence supporting the hypothesis that our Moon arrived intact in the skies above Earth at a relatively recent time. This opens up the possibility that the Earth-Moon relationship, previously thought to have been billions of years old, is actually only a few thousands of years old.

Mark Andrew is an independent earth-mysteries researcher based in Hampshire, UK.